Extracurricular Activities
by invisibleman666
Summary: Takes place during high school. How the "I Hate Rachel Greene Club" was created. Please Review!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

It was the last night of winter break, and Ross Geller was sitting down to dinner with his family. His mother, Judy, was setting the main dish, a large lasagna, down in the middle of the table. Monica's face lit up, it was one of her all time favorite meals.

"It looks great Mom," she said happily, clearly excited about the food.

Judy looked over at Monica. "Yes, well. You would think so, of course."

Monica's smile evaporated, and she looked down at her plate, resisting the urge to cry. Ross looked on sympathetically. His mother had a cruel habit of letting loose snide comments about Monica's weight, hair, relationship status, or any of the other things she found imperfect about her daughter. He'd tried to tell her to stop on several occasions, but she never listened.

Jack, Monica and Ross' dad, noticed the unpleasant mood and tried to segue into a new topic.

"So, are you two excited about going back to school?"

Monica shrugged, not wanting to speak, for fear that her voice would tremble and betray her sadness.

Jack turned to his son, accepting and understanding Monica's response. "What about you Ross?"

Ross looked up from his food. "What, uh… Yeah, I guess I'm a little excited," he trailed off into silence, not wanting to get into what was actually a complicated answer. This ended the discussion, and the table fell into silence, each person focusing on eating their meal.

Ross's thoughts went immediately to the question he'd just been asked. Winter break had served as a refreshing vacation from his miserably incurable social life. It had been two weeks since anybody had laughed at him or thrown unwanted food in his face.

On the other hand, however, it had been two weeks since he'd seen Rachel. Every winter, her family went to France to visit some old friends. Monica was always complaining about how her best friend was able to do so many things the Gellers just couldn't afford to spend money on. She'd begged to go with them for the past five years.

It was a stupid thought, since he never even spoke to her, but he'd felt like something was missing the past two weeks. The feeling he got when he watched her, when he saw her face light up with laughter, was like a drug to him. The more he took, the more addicted he became. It was becoming an obsession, he could barely go twenty minutes without thinking of her.

The only bad thing was that practically everybody knew that he was insanely in love with her. Nicer people, like Monica and Will, rarely mentioned it. But the popular crowd and even some wannabe populars constantly used the knowledge as a means to humiliate him.

Ross only hoped that Rachel didn't know about it. No one would've told her, would they? Or maybe… "Ross!"

He jerked his head up. Both of his parents were looking at him with questioning expressions.

"Yes?" he asked, trying to focus in on reality.

"You haven't said anything for five minutes, sweetie. Are you feeling alright?" Judy asked in a concerned tone.

"What?" he said blankly, still not grasping the conversation. "Uh, no. I'm fine. Just thinking."

"Well what about, son?" Jack joined in, wondering what had his son so deep in thought.

Ross probed his mind for a quick lie. He certainly didn't want his parents to be added to the list of people who knew about his feelings for Rachel. "Uh," he stared blankly back at them, "I have a paper due in English tomorrow." He probably could've come up with something better, but even a bad lie was better than the truth, at least in this situation. "I still have to finish it," he added, attempting to make it more believable.

"Well you've had two weeks to work on it. Why haven't you finished it?" his mother asked him.

"I just wanted to spend the time relaxing, I guess," Ross shrugged. "Actually, could I be excused? I should really finish it up."

"I suppose. Just don't leave anything to the last second again," Judy said sternly.

Taking the opportunity to leave the uncomfortable situation, Ross stood up, put his dishes in the sink, and walked upstairs to his bedroom. Closing the door behind him, he fell onto his unmade bed.

He was eager for the next day to arrive, so that he could go to school and see her again. Deciding to just go to bed early, he changed into his pajamas, brushed his teeth, and fell asleep.

* * *

Will stepped through the school's main door, slightly reluctant to return after two blissful weeks away.

He'd been dropped off early and wasn't sure how best to spend the next half hour before classes began. He decided to go hangout in the library, since it was always open for an hour before school started.

Will walked through the hallways, studying the various murals that had been painted on the walls by previous students.

Only a few other people were in the building this early, and none had yet crossed his path. He thought the coast was clear, so he began to softly hum to himself a song that'd been stuck in his head for a while now.

As he walked further, he became more and more engrossed in the pictures, and his absentminded mumbling gradually turned into him belting out the lyrics to Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself".

"If I looked all over the world, and there's every type of girl, but your empty eyes seem to pass me by, and leave me dancing with myself"-SMACK!

Will staggered backwards from the force of the collision. Regaining his balance, he looked to see who he'd hit.

Chip Matthews was standing there, six foot two, solid as a rock. Chip had been held back a few years, so that even though he was a year older than Will, he was technically in eighth grade. However, this fact did not make him any less intimidating. Even gaining the respect of some juniors and seniors, Chip was known for beating people up.

Familiar with this reputation, Will began to slowly back away.

Adding to his considerable bad luck, he ran into someone again. Turning to see who he'd backed into, he came face to face with Rachel Greene.

He'd heard of her from Ross and from other people in the school, but had never actually met her.

"I'm so sorry," he stuttered, "I couldn't see where I was going."

She stepped back with a blank expression. "OK", she said with the same lack of emotion. She actually looked a bit bored, but Will didn't notice.

"Um," he continued awkwardly, "you might've heard of me. I'm Ross's friend. You're friends with his sister, Monica, aren't-"

"Why are you still talking?" Rachel demanded rudely, looking at him as though he was something nasty stuck to her five hundred dollar shoes.

"What?" Will asked, confused. He'd only ever heard good things about her, especially from Ross. He'd never expected her to be like this, so stereotypically a cheerleader.

"Why don't you," she began, separating each word as though he was a caveman who couldn't understand English, "run along now? Nobody here wants to play with the fat boy."

She smiled and walked over to Chip, clearly proud of how she'd handled he situation.

Will stood exactly where she'd left him, feeling a mix of anger and embarrassment take over his body. When the two looked back at him, with expressions that clearly asked "What are you still doing here?", he turned on his heel and retreated down the hallway.

Listening to the sound of her giggling as he walked away, he felt a deep feeling of hatred set in. He knew he was fat, and he knew he was unpopular. But it was absolutely and one hundred percent unacceptable for someone to point it out!

What kind of person did that? Who would purposefully pick at someone's greatest insecurity, and be proud of doing it? He now knew full well the answer to that question. Rachel Greene.

* * *

After school, Will drove his motor scooter straight to Ross's house. Knowing that Ross took the bus most days and wouldn't be there for at least ten more minutes, he opened his bright red backpack and took out his book. He sat there on the doorstep for five minutes, deeply immersed in his reading.

The sound of an engine made him tear his eyes away from the words on the page. Squinting to see who and what was coming down the street, he could make out the shape of a motorcycle.

Within a few moments, however, he could tell that it was a large, red vehicle and that there were two people riding it, a girl and a boy. Rachel was arriving home aboard the Chipper, Chip's infamous bike, with her arms wrapped tightly around the waist of the most popular guy in school.

Watching her, he felt the anger build up inside him. He looked back down to his book, he didn't want to see her. A few minutes later, he heard the door of her house close. He relaxed, glad to know that she was no longer near him.

When he'd gotten through a few more pages, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

"Hey," Ross greeted him, walking up the front path.

"Hey," Will replied. Ross reached into his pocket, retrieved his keys, and opened the door.

"Come on in," he stood aside to let Will enter. Closing the door behind him, Will kicked off his shoes and headed upstairs towards Ross's room. Ross followed close behind, curious as to why Will seemed so upset.

Once they were safely in his room, he turned to Will. "What's up?"

Will looked down at his hands, wondering how Ross would react to what he was about to say. "Um… you know Rachel?"

Ross's eyes widened in surprise. What would she have to do with this? "Yeah," he responded.

"Well, I know you like her, and I just thought I should tell you something before you fall head over heels."

Ross stayed quiet. Apparently, Will wasn't aware of just how intense Ross's feelings for Rachel were. He wasn't about to tell him either. It was better if people not know just how much he liked her.

After a few moments of silence, Will continued. "I got to school early today, and I was walking to the library. I wasn't paying attention, and I accidentally walked into her. I apologized, and I thought she'd be fine, but she started making fun of me."

"Are you sure?" Ross asked. "Maybe she didn't mean for it to come off that way."

"No, man. I promise she meant it. She, uh…." Will paused, "She called me fat." He trailed off.

Ross could tell that his friend was embarrassed, and was really upset with Rachel. While Ross was sure that Rachel had meant it as a joke, and that Will had misunderstood, he didn't want to push it. It would only lead to a fight, and Will was already in a fragile state. Ross decided to finish up the conversation.

"Ok," he smiled at his friend, "thanks for telling me." Will sighed, grateful that Ross had taken the news so well.

They spent the rest of the day hanging out together. They watched TV, played video games, and swam in Ross's new backyard pool. Will finally left around seven thirty.

Ross grabbed a quick dinner and finished his homework before going to bed at ten.

While he lay in bed, he pondered what Will had told him about Rachel. He definitely didn't believe that she'd been as mean as Will had described. He could tell though, that Rachel would be a sore subject for a while. He just wouldn't let Will know that he still liked her and wouldn't ever talk about her. This was a problem with a simple solution.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Thursday morning, Will approached Lincoln High with a determined expression. Today, he had a plan. One that would hopefully free him from the constant abuse that had been directed at him everyday for the past week.

Ever since the incident with Rachel on Monday, word had spread throughout the school that he, the "obese freshman", was fair game.

After three days of insults and humiliation, he had figured out a new way to avoid them. His homeroom was located at the back of the building, next to the band room. In order to get away from the rest of the student body that exclusively used the main entrance, he circled around the school to the doors that were only ever used to transport large instruments to and from the building. Because no one ever felt the need to use these doors, they were always left unlocked.

Will slowly opened one and peeked inside, making sure no one was currently in the band room. The coast was clear, so he entered the room and quickly closed the door behind him. Making his way towards the exit doors on the opposite side, he was careful not to accidentally touch any of the instruments that littered the floor. He wasn't sure if he was even allowed to be in the rehearsal space without supervision, and didn't want to have to explain why he'd broken a thousand dollar instrument. Walking past the large drum set, he finally reached the door. Again, he opened it and surveyed the adjacent hallway.

No one was there, so he ran the forty feet to his homeroom, successfully avoiding notice.

His victory was short-lived. By the time the bell rang, he'd heard three comments about him, either made directly to him or behind his back. He just sat there, trying to block out the surrounding noises and get through the next four minutes until he'd leave for math. He'd get through the day, one class at a time.

* * *

By the time the final bell rang at the end of the school day, Will was practically seething. His cool and calm demeanor had only lasted so long. All of his anger from that day, no matter who had actually provoked it, was completely directed at her. Rachel Greene, the cause of all his problems.

As students began filing out of the classroom, Will threw his backpack over his right shoulder and headed for the bus loop.

* * *

Ross walked out the school's doors, and turned towards the line of buses, waiting to pick up the hundreds of students currently fighting for entrance. He walked quickly and deliberately towards his, which, as always, was the very last one. There was an intense huddle around the doors, people trying to get in before anyone else could steal another bus seat.

Used to this situation, Ross walked around the outside edge of the group, and began shoving through towards the doors. After a few seconds of struggling, he pushed his way onto the vehicle.

Looking down the aisle, he spotted Will, sitting near the back, clearly waiting for him. Ross smiled and walked through the dozens of shouting people towards his friend.

Will scooted closer to the window to make room as Ross joined him. He turned his gaze to the window, watching the hordes of people still trying to get onto the bus.

Ross began talking to him about one of his classes, but Will couldn't find the energy to care. After what must have been several minutes, Ross realized that he might as well be talking to a brick wall. His next sentence about his lab in physics that day died in his throat.

"What's up with you?" Will turned his head to look at Ross.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

Ross wasn't buying it. "Really," he responded, "what's going on?"

Will's temper was on a short fuse that day, and he could feel his control slipping away. "Seriously, Ross. What do you think is going on? I know no one ever talks to you, but you can't be that oblivious."

Ross was taken aback by Will's harsh retort. Of course he'd heard people muttering about Will for the past few days, sometimes switching out his name for the new nickname, "Shamu". He'd wanted to stand up for his friend, but was afraid they'd turn on him if he did. He'd hoped that Will wasn't aware of this new development, but he'd apparently been very wrong.

"You just have to ignore them," he tried to maintain a reassuring tone.

"Sure," Will laughed bitterly. Ross was about to speak again when Will began talking. "And you know exactly who's fault it all is," Will was gearing up for a good long rant, something that would get all of his pent up anger out in the open.

Ross knew that the long string of complaints was coming, so he put on the appropriate "I totally agree" face.

"Rachel freaking Greene's!" Will's voice rose significantly in volume, as well as in anger.

Ross had not been ready for that. He knew that Will had had a problem with her on Monday. But he had no idea that Will blamed all of this on her, after one small incident, which he was positive Will had over-reacted to. He hoped that Will wouldn't go on about her. It made him upset when he heard people bashing her, especially when it was undeserved.

But Will didn't stop. "I can't believe her! I mean, she didn't have to promote making fun of me! I swear, she must've held a meeting with all of her asshole friends and told them all to be dicks to me!"

Ross was getting very frustrated. Will was unfairly blaming Rachel for something she hadn't even done. He tried to fight the defensive side of him that wanted to yell at Will and kept his expression blank.

Will was oblivious of Ross's feelings, and continued ranting. "I hate her! That stupid bitch!"

"Hey!" Ross yelled, losing his control. "She didn't do a fucking thing to you! You're just so insecure you're willing to blame all of your problems on the first person you can think of!"

Will looked back at Ross, shocked by his outburst. "You can't honestly think that people needed to be told to call you a whale! You're not exactly petite, you know!" Ross shouted at him.

The bus pulled to a stop at the street corner by Will's house. His face a mix of sadness and anger, he stalked off the bus.

Ross watched him leave, trying to suppress the guilt he now felt. He'd gone a step too far, and he regretted it. The bus began moving once again, and Ross leaned his head on the window.

* * *

That night, Will lay in his bed, deep in thought. He'd been badly hurt by Ross's words, and had been distracted since the moment he stepped off the bus. He'd gotten through his homework, but had probably done badly on it, not having been able to focus.

Now, he lay there in the dark, turning his full attention to the problem. He was mad at Ross for all that he'd said, and was still mad at Rachel, but was beginning to doubt his actions. In the back of his mind, he'd known that Ross still liked Rachel, no matter how much he might say to the contrary. He probably shouldn't have complained so much about her to Ross, but he'd needed to talk to somebody, and Ross had been there. Still, Ross had been out of line calling him overweight. He certainly wasn't going to be the one apologizing first.

* * *

Ross was in his bed, staring at the glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling. He was mulling over the situation earlier. Although he did feel guilty about calling Will a "whale", he couldn't deny that Will had partly deserved it. He'd been unfairly judging Rachel for things she hadn't done, and that made him angry. Even though he didn't have a shot-in-hell with her romantically, he was very defensive of her. "Yes," he said to himself, "Will's going to be the one apologizing first for this fight." Turning over onto his side, he soon fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

A week had passed since Ross and Will's fight. Neither had apologized, and neither felt guilty about it.

Will thought that Ross had been completely over the line, and was waiting expectantly for his apology. On Ross's end however, he was angry at Will for jumping to unreasonable conclusions, and was also awaiting an apology.

Despite the fact that both of them were too stubborn to end it themselves, they'd definitely noticed a change in the last week. The school days seemed much longer, their free time was lonelier, and the isolation from all social circles hurt much more.

* * *

On Wednesday night, after finishing dinner with his family, Ross began working on his English essay, which was due the Friday of the next week. He hadn't yet looked at the essay questions. Sitting down at his desk, Ross reached into his backpack and retrieved his blue binder, where he kept all of his assignments. He searched through it and found the essay description. Finding the list of possible questions, he read through it.

All of them required that he describe a significant life experience and explain why it was significant. As he read over the last one on the list, his expression changed to one of obvious sadness. "What was an important event in your life that you shared with a friend? Who was the friend, and did he or she make it more important? Describe in detail."

Ross remembered all of the fun times he had had with Will. A slide show of memories flashed by, all involving him and his very best friend. He felt a sudden pang of guilt. He'd been partly responsible for their falling out. If he could've just held his tongue and supported his friend, they wouldn't be in their current situation. Or if he could pluck up the courage to talk to Will about it, the problem could be resolved.

No longer in the mood for working, Ross put the paper back in his binder and got ready for bed.

* * *

Ross took his usual seat in the corner at lunch the next day. He sat all alone at the small circular table in the cafeteria, the one farthest away from the center where most people sat. He looked around the large room, hoping to see Will. His hopes were not high however, he hadn't seen Will at lunch since last week. He'd considered looking around the school to see where his friend had been hiding during lunch, but was still scared of confronting him. Giving up his fruitless search, he looked down to his lunch and began eating.

A few minutes in, he started zoning out, letting in all the sounds of voices around him. Some of the conversations stood out to him, so he listened in, not really caring who or what he was hearing.

His ears perked up however, when he heard a distinct laugh somewhere close nearby. He could've recognized that voice anywhere. Trying to be as subtle as possible, he looked up and scanned the nearby area.

His heart started beating faster at the sight of her, over near the vending machines. His eyes hungrily took in her appearance. "More beautiful every day," he thought to himself. Her sleek blonde hair flowing flawlessly down her back and over her shoulders, her perfectly engineered outfit, he was mesmerized.

When she and her friend, whom he didn't know, turned around to face in his direction, he instinctively occupied himself by looking intently at his half eaten cheeseburger. After a few seconds had passed, and the risk of them thinking he was intentionally watching them was gone, he stole another glance, wondering if they'd left their previous location.

To his great surprise, it actually looked as though they were approaching his table. "But that's ridiculous," he thought, watching then come steadily closer. "What could they possibly want with me?" Ross grew visibly uncomfortable when it became undeniably clear that they were heading for his table. He noticed his hands beginning to sweat and rubbed them on his jeans, trying to relax.

When the two giggling girls eventually reached him, he brought his head up to look them in the eyes. "Hey," he said somewhat quietly, still having no idea why they were there talking to him.

"So," Rachel's friend started, not bothering to return Ross's greeting, "you're all alone."

Ross didn't know how to respond to this statement so he just kept his silence, waiting for her to continue. "Where's your fat friend?" Rachel finally joined in. Ross twitched uncomfortably. He knew now that they weren't here to speak to him, they were most likely here to make fun of him. He was shocked initially, not recognizing this side of Rachel. Had Will been right about her? He wondered worriedly. But he couldn't accept that just yet, she hadn't really been that mean, right? She could just not know Will's name and have no choice but to refer to him as Ross's fat friend. Ross hoped to god this was true. But alas, the next words spoken destroyed his hope in one swift blow.

"He was the only person who ever sat with you, what happened? Now you're an even bigger loser, all alone, not even an obese reject to talk to." Ross fought the urge o cry, heartbroken that Rachel could say such things so easily.

Not wanting to lose control in front of them, which would just give them more to laugh at, he grabbed his tray and walked away from the table. "Wait, oh no, have we made the little loser boy upset?" Rachel and her friend called after him. He could hear their cruel and high-pitched laughter as he stormed out of the cafeteria.

It wasn't until he reached the end of the hallway that he realized he didn't know here to go. Returning to the cafeteria was obviously not an option, so he would have to find somewhere else to finish up the last thirty minutes of lunch. He once again began walking, not quite sure yet where his feet were leading him.

After winding through the school's complex system of hallways, he reached a small set of dirty old stairs that had clearly not been included in the janitorial staff's rotation for a while. He walked down the steps, glad now that he was in a place no one would ever go looking for him, where he couldn't be interrupted with crude comments or mean jokes. At the bottom of the stairs there was an old hallway with several classrooms, long out of use. When Lincoln High had renovated several years ago, this particular hallway had been forgotten, traded in for a newer and more modern addition to the school.

Ross came down here sometimes, whenever he felt like being alone or getting away from the outside world. When he reached the end of the hall, he turned right into what used to be a biology classroom. Ross jumped when he realized that there was someone else already there.

Sitting on the counter near some old beakers and other science materials, was Will. Will seemed just as surprised as Ross to see someone else in the place he'd come to be alone.

Ross was still upset about what had happened in the cafeteria and it showed on his face. Will's anger at Ross was put on a side burner when he saw that Ross was going through something. "What's wrong?" he asked, not sure whether or not Ross would even answer.

"Um," Ross looked into Will's face. This would mean admitting to Will that he'd been right, "uh, well, it's Rachel." Will looked shocked at first, but his expression then changed to one of understanding. He could tell from Ross's body language and tone of voice that Rachel had said something to him. He knew what it felt like after being ridiculed by people like Rachel and he knew he needed to be supportive towards Ross right now.

Ross, surprised and thankful that Will had not said "I told you so," continued speaking. "She and her friend came over during lunch and said some stuff to me," he paused before grimacing and saying in a slightly louder voice, "You're right. She's a total bitch!"

Will put a hand on Ross's shoulder. "I knew you'd come around."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Ross and Will's friendship was back to where it had always been before the fight. The only thing different from before was that now they complained about Rachel all the time. It had become one of their most common conversation topics. Whenever anything bad happened at school with some of the popular crowd, they went and ranted to each other, always concluding that, whatever had happened and whomever it had involved, it was all Rachel's fault. Ross was convinced that all of his feelings for her were gone, and that he had made a stupid adolescent mistake in falling in love with her. He'd now recognized her for what she really was, a spoiled, over-rated brat, who found joy in bullying others.

He was working on his homework one night when the phone rang. He picked it up and was glad to hear Will's voice on the other end. "Hey," Ross greeted his friend.

"Hey," Will replied, "So I had this idea today in Spanish, you know, when Emily told the teacher I preferred to be called Shamu?"

"Oh, right," Ross said. Will had described the event to him while riding the bus home that day. They had, of course, ended up complaining about Rachel yet again, explaining in detail all of her existing flaws, and inventing some new ones themselves.

Will continued speaking, "Well, I thought, maybe there are more people like us, who hate _her_," he stressed the last word, obviously referring to Rachel. "And maybe we could form a club." Will stopped speaking, waiting for Ross's reaction to his idea.

Ross took in Will's proposition. He did enjoy venting his thoughts about Rachel, and it might be a good thing to give others an outlet for their similar feelings. Brushing off the thought that this might be taking it too far, Ross responded, "Sounds like a great idea!" Will was glad Ross had agreed, and they talked for a few more minutes before hanging up.

* * *

The next day, Ross found Will in the morning before school started. "So, how are we gonna go about recruiting for the club?" he asked.

"I figure we just talk to some people who might be pissed at her to, and see if they'd be interested," Will answered with a shrug.

"Okay," Ross nodded, "we'll see how it goes. See you at lunch." They parted and Ross headed off to homeroom.

* * *

When they met up at their table in the corner for lunch, neither Will nor Ross had anything good to report. No one had seemed into the idea, or they were all too scared of being discovered as a member and further ridiculed. "That's okay, we can still keep looking," Ross said hopefully, "We'll find at least one person to join. Three should be enough anyway."

Will nodded along, "Yeah, I guess." They discussed other things for the rest of the period, and then both left to go back to class, determined to recruit one more member.

* * *

Ross's last class of the day was science, with Mr. Schmidt. When Ross arrived in the classroom, and turned towards his usual seat in the back by the window, he saw someone already sitting there. He'd never seen the boy before; he was a small, black haired Asian kid, with his books all neatly arranged on his desk. Ross approached him, curious as to why this person was here.

"Hi," Ross greeted him with a smile, trying to be as polite as possible. The boy looked up at him, appearing shocked that someone was speaking to him.

"Hi," he responded quickly.

When the guy didn't continue or introduce himself, Ross said, "I'm Ross. Are you new here?"

Beginning to look a bit more comfortable, the guy replied in a heavy Asian accent, "My name is Takaka Ci-Kek, I transferred here from Thailand."

"Well," Ross smiled and mock waved, "Welcome."

"Thank you, uh… Ross."

Ross nodded as if to say, "you're welcome", and sat down in the seat next to Takaka. The class began and Ross leaned forward, listening intently to the teacher's lecture. After a while, he glanced to his right, wondering how Takaka was doing. The boy in the seat next to him was clearly lost, his yes were focused on the teacher, but his expression was one of utter confusion. Ross felt bad for him; it must be really hard to come to a new school while trying to learn a new language.

He leaned over and whispered to Takaka, "Hey, I can explain all of this to you later if you want." Takaka seemed to understand him, so Ross continued. "Do you want to come over to my house after school?"

Takaka's eyes lit up with gratitude. "Yes, thank you."

Ross grinned and turned back towards Mr. Schmidt. After several minutes passed, another idea struck him. They still needed one more person in their I Hate Rachel Green Club. Even though Takaka was new and didn't know Rachel, they could still accept him, even if he would only serve the purpose of adding a member.

He leaned over once again. "Hey, do you want to join a club too? It'll be really fun."

Takaka smiled, just happy that Ross was being so nice to him. "Yes, of course."

* * *

Ross brought Takaka onto the bus and led him over to where Will was seated. "Hey, I found us a member!" Ross said excitedly. "Meet Takaka Ci-Kek. He just transferred from Thailand."

Will looked confusedly at Ross and then at Takaka, as if disappointed that this was the best they could do. A moment later however, he shrugged, glad that at least someone was joining. "Nice to meet you," Will extended his hand, "I'm Will." The two shook hands and then, for the rest of the bus ride, Takaka sat quietly on the end of the seat while Ross and Will talked.

When they reached Ross's stop, he motioned to Takaka, "This is where we get off."

The three of them got off the bus and walked down the street towards Ross's house. When they entered it, they all headed up the stairs and into his bedroom. Keeping up the pretense of a super secret meeting, Ross locked his bedroom door and turned to face the others, currently sitting on his bed. "So now what?" he asked, wondering how to proceed with the first I Hate Rachel Green Club meeting.

Will jumped up off the bed, taking charge of the situation. Glad to be out of the spotlight, Ross took the now open spot on his bed, and focused his attention on Will. "Well," Will began in a powerful tone of voice, "before we begin, we should figure out what our purpose is, what our goals are, how we will achieve those goals, and what it entails to be a member of this organization." Will took a breath and looked down at Ross and Takaka, the latter of whom had a glazed expression, as though he had absolutely no idea what was going on, but was thrilled to be a part of it all the same.

Seeing that neither of them had any answers, Will continued. "Our purpose is to discuss Rachel Green's many and considerable flaws, and to help others to see them, so that she will be dethroned as Lincoln High's queen." Ross nodded and Takaka, following his actions, nodded as well. Will, clearly enjoying being the leader of the group, kept speaking in his commanding and self-assured tone. "To achieve this goal, we'll do our best to put her in humiliating situations, so that the brainwashed student body can see her for what she really is, and will cease to bow down before her."

Ross forced himself to smile when Will looked over to see his reaction, but inside he wasn't so sure. Was this going too far? Did she really deserve this? Was it justifiable to stoop down to that level, only to cause her embarrassment and pain? But Ross didn't want to be thinking like this. He tried to shove away these questions and match Will's enthusiasm.

"And," Ross joined in, trying to convince himself that this was what he wanted, "we should have some kind of a swearing in ceremony, so that we know what it means to be a member."

"Yes, great idea Ross!" Will exclaimed, glad that others were contributing. "We'll make a pact! Here guys," Will handed them a sheet of paper and a pen, "just write down some things you think should be in the pact. I'll do the same and then we can compare."

Ross picked up the pen in his right hand, and looked at the blank sheet of paper in front of him. What should be in the pact? He glanced over at Takaka, but judging by his blank expression, Ross wouldn't have any help with this. He lowered the pen to the surface of the page, hoping that whatever came out would be good enough for Will. "Um…" he thought, waiting desperately for an idea, any idea.

Then he thought of something. Maybe it was his desire to prove to Will, and partly to himself as well, that he was over Rachel and was fully supportive of the club. But for whatever reason, Ross wrote down on the page, "_no dating of RG or crushing on her allowed, immediate expulsion if violated_."

Now that he had his first idea written down, the next few came more easily. After a period of about five minutes, Will took his paper and read through it. "Good, good. Now we just write up an oath type thing."

Will spent the next ten minutes, with a bit of Ross's help, writing up an oath. When he was finished, it was a half page long. "Well," he said, "no use wasting time. I'll go first. Get me something to put my hand on."

Ross grabbed a random book from his bookshelf and handed it to Will. "_A History of the Jurassic Period_," Will read the title. Ross shrugged; it was as good as anything was. "Okay then," Will placed the book on Ross's desk, placed one hand on it, and raised his other. He read through the oath very seriously, and smiled when he was done. "Your turn," he said to Ross, beckoning him forward.

Ross gulped. This was it. This was him formally saying that he hated her. He hated Rachel Green. He had to prove that his feelings were gone, never to return. He looked over at Will, who gave him the thumbs up. He placed his hand on the book and recited the oath, his voice slightly trembling, but hopefully not badly enough to be noticed by Will. When he stepped back, Will gave him a high five.

They then turned to Takaka, who had, by this time, gathered what he was supposed to do. He read through the paper slowly, not fully understanding its meaning. When he'd finished, Will and Ross both high fived him as well. They were all now official members of the I Hate Rachel Green Club.

"Now," Will clapped his hands, "first things first, I have an idea for our initial action."

"Okay," Ross said, "what is it?"

"It's a rumor," Will smiled. "We can tell people that she has both male and female reproductive parts. Her parents flipped a coin when she was born, and decided to raise her as a girl, even though she still had a hint of a penis."

"Wow," Ross looked shocked, "How long have you been thinking about that?"

Will laughed, "A couple days. So, do you like it?"

"Yeah!" Ross said excitedly.

"We'll start telling people tomorrow then."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The next day at school, Ross, Will, and Takaka, who had finally grasped the concept after much explaining from the other two, set out on their mission. They spread the terrible rumor all throughout the school, using a myriad of methods. They wrote it anonymously on pieces of paper and passed them around, not allowing anyone to know where they had come from. They whispered loudly about it in the halls, making sure it was just loud enough for passing students to hear. They even went so far as to write it on the wall of the boy's bathroom in black marker.

Soon enough, if they paid the slightest bit of attention to their classmates, they would hear several avid discussions concerning Rachel, and what was now referred to as her teeny-weenie. As can be expected of a high school student body, they'd ensured by lunchtime that everyone in the school knew about the new scandal, except maybe Rachel Green herself.

It was the biggest item on the gossip mill for several days. When everyone returned to school the next Monday, it had slightly died down. By no means had anyone forgotten it, but they had at least stopped discussing it in the hallways and during lunch.

What was most shocking about the whole situation, according to Ross, was how many people had actually believed the insane rumor. When Will had suggested it initially, Ross had been able to find at least a little humor, in that it was so ridiculous. He hadn't thought it would be a big deal; he'd expected people to brush it off as a terrible joke someone made up. Quite to his astonishment, however, he hadn't heard tell of a single person who did not have full belief in the idea of Rachel with a "teeny-weenie". For reasons he wouldn't dare to admit to himself, a small pang of guilt arose in his thoughts whenever he heard it mentioned.

His only comforting thought about the situation was the fact that Rachel would never even hear about the rumor. Even with it floating around, no one would actually think less of her, right? She was still the most popular girl in school, and no one would dare to make fun of her.

* * *

However, Ross's idea of her as an unbreakable superpower was soon disproved. As with the majority of the drama that occurred at Lincoln High, it happened in the cafeteria during lunch.

Rachel was walking into the large area, filled with talking students, when she heard her name somewhere. She stopped walking, trying to find the conversation in which shed been mentioned. She couldn't place it, however, out of the dozens of different discussions surrounding her. Giving up after a moment, she shrugged and continued following the path towards her regular table.

When she heard it again, however, she stopped and turned in a full circle, determined to find out who was talking about her. After staring down several tables she suspected could've been the gossipers, her eyes settled on the person she was positive had been the speaker. After all, she knew the girl's voice so well. It was her best friend, Ginger.

"Well," Rachel said to herself, slightly relieved, "She couldn't have been saying anything bad."

She walked up to the table where her friends were sitting, which was already full. But of course someone would move so that she could sit down. She was Rachel Greene, after all. She cleared her throat loudly as she reached the table, drawing attention to her presence.

"Hey guys!" she greeted her friends with her very best cheerleader spirit. However, the moment the group saw her standing there, lunch tray in hand, they stopped speaking. Rachel looked at them with a puzzled expression. Why would the stop talking at the sight of her? "Maybe they have been talking about me," she thought worriedly.

"What were you guys talking about?" she asked, trying again to sound positive.

"Uh, nothing," Ginger said. The guys at the table kept looking to each other, slight grins on their faces. When Ginger spoke they couldn't hold it in any longer. They burst out laughing, trying with all their might not to look up at Rachel. They knew if they did, they would just laugh harder.

Rachel had absolutely no idea what was going on. She acted like she hadn't heard them, and moved on to the act of getting a seat. It was easy picking out the weakest of the herd, Jack Fleming. He wasn't completely unfortunate looking, but he was the least model-like person here. Hew as the type of person that wasn't really in the cool crowd, but he tried often to join it. Deciding to use this insecurity to her advantage, she walked over to him.

"Well," she said in a nonchalant tone, "I didn't expect to see you here. Don't you usually sit over there, by the trashcans?" Her strategy was clear, to subtly insult him until he offered her his seat. She was waiting for some kind of response, and was shocked when he looked up at her without any trace of fear or embarrassment.

"No, actually. But there is a seat over by the trash cans if you want it. Seems like we're filled up here."

Rachel was dumbfounded. She was never spoken to like that. Why did this guy, who wasn't nearly as popular as her, think that he had the authority to tell her to leave? She looked towards the rest of her friends for support, but all of them were looking at her the same way Jack was. However, even with this clear piece of evidence, Rachel refused to believe that, for any reason, anyone was allowed to make fun of her.

Trying desperately to keep hold of her status as Queen Bee, she looked back towards Jack. "Oh, that's a great sweater," she smiled sweetly, "and it matches those shoes perfectly. Oh, no. didn't anyone tell you? We don't sit with homos." Rachel grinned, confident that the stab at Jack's sexuality, which had always been somewhat of a question mark, would gain her back both her popularity and her seat.

Jack looked a bit embarrassed for a moment, but then he smugly replied to Rachel, "Didn't you know? We don't let hermaphrodites sit with us."

Every single person at the table busted out laughing. Rachel had no idea what was going on, but she ran out of the cafeteria and away from the laughter as quickly as her feet would carry her.

She wandered around the school, extremely confused about what had just happened, for several minutes.

After a while, she stopped walking and found herself next to the door to the "dungeon bathroom". This bathroom was down at the end of the F wing, where few people ever went. Unlike the rest of the school's bathrooms, this one had thick stone walls separating the stalls, and blue-green tinted windows. Whether they were intended to be that color, or time had made them so, the sun shining through into the bathroom took on the ocean-like tint, which lit the bathroom that so few students ever entered.

Rachel walked in and leaned in towards the mirror. She was looking for something that would explain why Jack had said what he did. She looked carefully over her reflection, checking her face for blemishes and looking over her clothes as well.

However, she couldn't find anything that could've provoked the insult she'd received. What had he called her again? A hermaphrodite? Rachel frowned. She must have heard him wrong. There was no reason whatsoever for anyone to call her a hermaphrodite. She silently berated herself for not listening clearly enough. If she had, she would know what she was looking for and what to fix, so as to regain her status.

Rachel was still looking at her appearance, wondering what in the world could be wrong with it, when the bell rang. She glanced one more time at the mirror, before she gathered her things and returned to class, a fake smile plastered to her face.

* * *

Rachel got home after school at the usual time, having taken the usual route, and seen all of the usual people. However, the person that returned home at 3:30 pm, threw her bag on the floor, and walked upstairs to her bedroom, was not the usual Rachel Green. As soon as she'd reached the safety of her room, she collapsed on the bed and the tears she'd been holding back for so long now came dripping down from her eyes.

After lunch and the disastrous run-in with her friends, things had only gotten worse. The two classes she'd had before the end of the day, math and history, had been filled with vague jabs at her and much ridicule at the hands of her classmates. She still had no idea what they were saying because she could never make out enough of their conversations. All she could decipher was her name, followed by bouts of cruel laughter.

When the bell had finally rung, she ran to the bus loop with her head down. She chose a seat on the bus in the very back, and slouched down so that no one could see her face. She'd been relieved when the bus dropped her off at the corner of her street and she was able to get away from the loud crowd of students riding home. She'd made the walk down the street to her house in good time, not allowing herself to break down until she was definitely alone in her room.

Now she was doing just that, crying hysterically into her pillow, extremely distressed by the sudden unexplained change in her life.

* * *

Ross was sitting on the living room couch watching TV when he heard a knock on the door. Tearing his eyes away from the Discovery Channel documentary playing, he got up and walked over to the door.

He opened it and was shocked to see Rachel standing outside, looking as though she'd been crying. She had been expecting Monica to come to the door, so Rachel also looked a bit surprised. After an awkward moment of complete silence, Ross shifted nervously and opened the door wider.

"Come on in," he told her, moving out of the way to allow her to enter.

After another moment or two of silence, Rachel was the first to speak. "Is Monica here? I kinda need to talk to her."

"No, she's not actually," Ross replied. Rachel's shoulders slumped; she was clearly disappointed. Ross didn't want her to be upset. "But she's coming home in about ten minutes. You're welcome to wait for her," Ross gestured toward the couch and TV.

Rachel weighed her options in her mind. She really needed to talk to Monica, and it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to spend ten minutes watching TV with Ross. Deciding to accept his offer, she took off her coat and walked over to sit down on the couch.

Ross stood by the door for a few seconds longer, surprised that she'd accepted his offer. He then walked over to sit beside her on the couch. He turned the TV back on, and was suddenly very embarrassed that he'd been watching the Discovery Channel. He hoped she wouldn't judge him for it, and just handed her the remote. "You can watch whatever you want," he said with a small smile. "I don't really care."

Rachel took the remote and started flipping through channels, before settling on MTV. She leaned back on the couch and stared at the screen.

Ross didn't know what to do now, so he stood up and asked, "Do you want anything to drink?"

"A coke would be good," Rachel replied. Ross nodded and made his way into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and retrieved two coke cans. He then filled an empty glass with ice, because he knew Rachel always liked to have ice in her drinks, and poured one of the coke cans into it.

He returned to the living room and handed the glass to Rachel. "Thanks," she said, giving him a small smile.

They continued to watch MTV in a slightly more comfortable silence. Ross actually got into the TV program and didn't look away from the screen for several minutes.

When he did however, he was utterly shocked to see that Rachel was crying. Something in his heart twinged uncomfortably at the sight. It physically hurt him to see her this upset.

"What's wrong?" he asked her tentatively, not daring to place a comforting hand on her shoulder, which he would have done if it was anyone else.

Rachel sniffed, trying to stop the tears, embarrassed that Ross had seen them. "Oh, nothing," she said to him, hoping he'd believe her.

Ross wasn't buying it. "Really, what is it?" he asked her kindly. "I might be able to help." Attempting to further reassure her of his simple desire to help, he bravely reached out his hand and placed it on her shoulder.

Rachel looked surprised for a moment, and her eyes fleeted to his hand for a quick second. For some reason that she did not fully understand, she felt comfortable talking to Ross, so she started to speak. "Um," her voice trembled, "for the last few days, I've been hearing people talking about me." Rachel paused and looked up at Ross, wondering if she should go on. He gave her a reassuring nod, so she continued. "I don't really know what they're saying, but I think it's some kind of rumor or something. It must be pretty bad, because today at lunch no one wanted to sit with me, and I ended up crying in the bathroom."

Rachel, surprised that she'd said so much, stopped talking.

Ross looked at her sadly. Inside, his heart was breaking into thousands of little pieces. It was all his fault. Trying to make it seem to his friend that he was over her, he'd ended up hurting her more than he ever thought possible. She was sitting here crying because of him. He knew he had to respond. It would only hurt her more if he didn't, and causing her more pain right now was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Look, Rachel," he started slowly, "if these people are going to judge you because of a stupid rumor that's probably not at all true, then they're pretty shitty friends."

Rachel smiled weakly. She knew he was right, but her reputation was still important to her. "But that's my entire life, Ross. These stupid jerks I hang out with. I know it's dumb, but I'd rather have tons of shitty friends than have no friends at all."

Ross nodded, understanding her point. She would rather be popular than be like him. She was probably right too. Her life was easier, more fun, and less painful than his, even if it was shallow. "Yeah," Ross began, "I get that your popularity's important to you. And don't worry, the rumor will die down soon and everything will go back to normal. Just remember that you're better than that. You may act like them, but I know you're a good person."

Rachel gave him a sarcastic nod. "No, really, you are. You're smart, you're fun, and you're a great friend. You still hang out with Monica, even though you're way more popular than her. Anyone would be lucky to have you in their life." Ross smiled encouragingly.

Rachel was touched. "Thanks Ross. I still don't know how I'm gonna show up at school tomorrow, but," she trailed off.

A second later, the door banged open and Monica came in. Ross quickly took his hand off her shoulder and turned towards the TV.

"Hey Rachel!" she cried out. Monica ran to the couch, grabbed Rachel's hand, and led her upstairs. Rachel turned and gave Ross one last smile before she was pulled out of sight.

* * *

Ross was sitting on his bed reading a book when Monica came in. He glanced up from the page, "Hey."

"Hey," Monica replied. "Did you talk to Rachel at all today?"

Ross didn't feel like discussing his conversation with Rachel. "No," he lied, "Why?"

"She was really upset. Something about a rumor and eating in the bathroom. I was just wondering if you knew anything about it."

Ross didn't want to talk about it, so he simply said, "No I didn't. Sorry."

"No problem, it's fine," Monica turned to leave, "See you later."

Ross was left alone in his room to ponder the recent events. There was no doubt that he felt terrible. He hadn't wanted Rachel to ever hear the rumor. He just hoped she would eventually be ok.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Ever since his conversation with Rachel the previous day, Ross had been experiencing a chronic feeling of guilt. He was absolutely disgusted with himself for messing up her life so drastically. She had seemed so upset about it that he'd expected her not to show up at school. To his surprise however, he'd walked into homeroom the next day to se her already there, sitting in her usual seat.

Ross stopped and stared at her for a second, looking for something in her that was different from normal. However, at that moment, he couldn't identify a single change in her since before the rumor had begun. He gave up and walked to his seat in the back. For some reason, even though physically she looked no different, Ross suspected that she was bravely trying to hide it all inside. For the next few minutes nothing changed. Rachel's expression, Rachel's position; everything stayed the same.

Just as the bell rang to start the day Ross saw Rachel's friend, Ginger, walk in. He wondered if she'd been one of the people laughing at Rachel yesterday. Ginger sat down in the vacant seat between Rachel and a girl named Amanda. "Hey, Rachel," Ginger said to Rachel's stationary form.

Rachel smiled at her, "Hey."

When Ginger thought Rachel had stopped looking, she leaned over towards Amanda. Ross observed in a state of horror as Ginger whispered something in Amanda's ear. Amanda laughed and both girls flashed a look towards Rachel.

This action infuriated Ross. It was so blatantly obvious that they were talking about Rachel, who was supposed to be their friend, and was sitting not two feet away from them. Ross could only hope that Rachel was oblivious to the transaction.

The last few minutes of homeroom were uneventful, and when Rachel got up and left the classroom at the end of it, she still hadn't shown any signs of vulnerability. Impressed with her graceful handling of the situation, but still extremely guilt-ridden for putting her in the situation in the first place, Ross left the room as well.

As he walked to his next class, his mind went over the choices he had regarding his next course of action. Since the heart-to-heart yesterday, he couldn't just do nothing. Though he wasn't sure that there was anyway at all for him to fix the damage already done, it seemed fairly clear that he couldn't cause any more.

The way to ensure that he didn't hurt Rachel anymore was to cease to be a member of the "I Hate Rachel Greene Club". But how could he ever tell Will that he wanted to quit? Not only that, he wanted to terminate the club that his friend was so very excited about. Will would be completely blindsided if Ross were to admit his lingering feelings for Rachel. He would be incredibly upset that the club he'd created was utterly worthless and that his co-founder and best friend had lied to him. How could Ross ever disappoint his best friend like that? If he did, he would end up feeling doubly guilty as he already did, having hurt an additional person. However, if he didn't find a way to end the club's existence, the guilt he felt now would never leave him, and Rachel would get hurt again and again in the future.

* * *

Ross was still pondering the club situation when lunch time came around. Coming out of the lunch line with a tray of food in hand, he scanned the cafeteria for Will and Takaka, whom he sat with every day. He saw them at the table farthest away from the doors, over near the water fountain that was long since out of order. He walked over and sat down with them.

Will smiled at him. "Hey man," he said cheerily.

"Hey guys," Ross replied, slightly more subdued than Will. They talked for a while about nothing in particular; classes, teachers, and other such generic topics.

About ten minutes into the period, Takaka cleared his throat, and said in his thick accent, "I have news. I am going back to Thailand in a week." Ross and Will exchanged surprised looks. They hadn't expected Takaka to be leaving so soon.

"Just a week?" Will asked, with a sad expression on his face. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Takaka replied, looking both of his friends in the eyes.

After taking a moment to digest the information, Ross gave a weak smile. "We'll miss you," he said seriously. The three fell into silence.

They picked at their food for several seconds before Will said in what he hoped was an optimistic and reassuring tone, "Let's talk about something else. We don't need to deal with this right now."

Ross forced another smile onto his face, this one a little stronger. "Yeah," he said encouragingly, "let's enjoy the time we have." They fell back into easier conversation, which lasted until the end of the period. When the bell signaled the end of lunch, they parted, Takaka going one way, Ross and Will going another.

* * *

After finishing his homework that night, Ross decided to give Will a call. He picked up the phone and dialed his friend's number. While listening to the rings on the other end of the line, he thought about what he would say. As bummed as he was that Takaka, whom he'd grown rather fond of recently, was leaving in only a week, he'd come up with a way to use that information to his advantage.

Will picked up after the fourth ring. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Ross."

"Oh, hey," Will sounded pleased that Ross had called.

"So it really sucks about Takaka, huh?" Ross asked, figuring he might as well jump right into it.

"Yeah," Will responded, "I really started to like the dude."

"Yep," Ross breathed deeply, hoping his next question would sound natural, and his voice wouldn't betray any of the feelings he'd rather Will not know. "What's gonna happen to the club?"

There was a slight pause before Will said, "I guess we can just carry on with only two members."

This wasn't what Ross had been hoping to hear. "It's not really a club if there are only two people," he said slowly, not wanting to seem pushy.

"Well," Will asked, "what do you propose we do? End it? Take a break?"

Ross smiled, glad that Will had gotten there on his own. Now it wouldn't seem like he was just looking for an excuse to bail. "I don't know," he said, pretending to be upset, "I guess we might as well end it. We can't really do much with just us."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Will sighed, "It's a real bummer though."

"Yeah, it is," Ross lied. "Well, I have to go take a shower. See you tomorrow, Will"

"Good night," Will said, before hanging up the phone. Ross smiled broadly to himself before going to bed.

* * *

He showed up to school the next day feeling better than he had in weeks. He was almost guilt-free, having successfully ended the "I Hate Rachel Greene Club" only last night. Ross reveled in the idea that, from this day forward, there would be no new rumors and no unfair judgment of Rachel. He was certain that he'd done his job well, and that the one rumor that had been spread would soon be forgotten in the absence of new ones. It would surely be written off as a singular attack that had no basis in fact, considering that no other such rumors about Rachel were in existence.

He strolled into homeroom and proceeded to sit in his isolated seat, staring at the door, waiting impatiently for it to open and for her to walk in. This did not happen for another few minutes, however.

When she did come into the classroom, she looked the same as she had the previous day. No emotion in particular was portrayed on her face, and he wasn't sure whether she was over the sadness she'd experienced before, or if she was just very good at hiding it. He guessed she was hiding it, and all of the grief and embarrassment was lying underneath her expressionless face.

He watched as, a minute later, Ginger came in and flopped into the seat next to Rachel. He tensed up at this development, praying that Ginger wouldn't make fun of Rachel as she had so rudely done the previous day.

To his relief, Ginger didn't repeat the action. Ross did observe, however, that although she never made fun of her during the block, she didn't utter a single word to Rachel either. When the bell rang, Rachel grabbed her bag and was out of the classroom before anyone else had even stood up from their desks.

This left Ross feeling uneasy. Apparently, people hadn't stopped judging and ridiculing Rachel. Just because he'd ended the club, the damage had already been done.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Ross felt terrible about the recent developments in this Rachel mess. He'd been beating himself up about it repeatedly, and he thought of little else. When he slumped into the school building in the morning, having arrived twenty minutes before classes started, a terrible sight met his eyes. He thought, and desperately hoped, that he was dreaming. He actually pinched himself on the arm to see if the nightmare he was currently faced with was in fact reality.

It was in the middle of the trophy case, there was a large picture of the cheerleading squad. The girls were creating a human pyramid, with Rachel at the top, smiling widely. On the glass over the picture, someone had written in large, red painted letters; "RACHEL GREEN = CHICK WITH A DICK!" The space between her legs had been circled, and an arrow was pointing at it, with the words "teeny weenie" labeling the spot.

Ross was rendered speechless. He felt as though this was one of those things that only happened in his very worst nightmares. However, in this instance, he knew he wasn't going to wake up. This was real, as real as it gets, and it had happened because of him.

Not being able to look at the scene any longer, he bolted down the hallway, trying to find a janitor before more students showed up. He made a sharp left turn into the English wing, and spotted a man in a janitor's uniform at the end of the hall. He ran towards the man. "Good morning," the janitor greeted him, smiling.

"I need your help!" Ross said, trying to gain control of his emotions, so as not to appear insane. His attempts were futile, however, and the janitor just stared blankly back at him, wondering why Ross was so agitated. "Just come this way!" Ross said, walking quickly back in the direction he'd come and beckoning to the man with the mop to follow him.

When they got within sight of the trophy case, Ross pointed at it and asked, "Can you get rid of that?"

The janitor's mouth formed a perfect circle. After getting over the shock of the huge display of vandalism, he looked apologetically at Ross. "Sorry kid, but I can't get it off yet. Any vandalism or defacement of school property has to be checked over by the police. I can't get rid of it until they've gotten their pictures and info."

Ross was speechless. Not only would every student, teacher, and staff member see this terrible picture, but the cops would see it! They would take pictures of it and it would go down in some official file. Anytime anyone looked up the name Rachel Green, they would dig up those pictures. This nightmare was one that would never go away.

He walked off towards homeroom, dragging his feet, bracing himself for a day that he already knew would be one of the worst in his life. He hadn't thought earlier that he could feel any guiltier. He had been so wrong.

N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N*N

Rachel got off the bus and walked towards the school doors. She just wanted to get through this day without any embarrassment. Unfortunately, however, she did not get that wish.

As soon as Rachel entered the school, something told her that everything was not ok, then she saw it. Her stomach plummeted, taking what was left of her strength to hold herself together with it. She stood transfixed for a moment, staring in horror at the trophy case and its new façade.

Then she ran. Pointing her face to the ground so that no one would be able to see her tear-stained face, she sprinted into the nearest closet she could find. She chose to hide in a closet because it was the only place she knew no one would ever find her. Bathrooms were way too public for hiding, seeing as they were the places where almost every girl in school reported to for gossip. And today she was positive of what the gossip would be about. Every student, and probably teachers too, would gather to discuss her. Rachel Green. The girl who apparently had been hiding the fact that she had a penis for her entire life.

Rachel squinted her eyes and took in her surroundings. The storage closet was almost pitch dark, with the only light coming from the cracks between the door and the wall. Cleaning supplies filled the shelves on the three sides that weren't the side with the door. On the floor there was very little unoccupied space. Buckets with mops and brooms were propped up against the walls.

Rachel sank down onto an overturned bucket and buried her face in her hands. Crying softly, she wondered how in the world her life had come to this. She'd had it all. A month ago, she'd been that girl. The one guys wanted to date and other girls wished they could be. But now look at her. She was unrecognizable from the girl of a mere month ago.

Rachel remembered where she was and glanced at her watch. She only had two minutes before homeroom. She gave herself a silent pep talk, stood up, straightened her clothes, and returned to the hallway, which was filled with students. Trying not to listen to anything they might be saying, in case any of it was about her, Rachel walked to her classroom.

She let out a sigh of relief when she got inside the room. No one had said anything to her. Maybe she had over-reacted. Maybe it really wasn't as big a deal as she had thought. Smiling slightly to herself, she made her way to her usual seat. When she was finally sitting comfortably, she allowed herself to relax. She stopped blocking out the voices around her, newly confident that nothing would be said about her.

From the hallway outside the door, she heard a loud shout. "I had no idea, man! Guess that's why she'd only let me get to second! Didn't want to unveil the rocket!"

Rachel froze in her seat. She had been wrong. Of course it was a big deal. Not only had the rumor been effectively spread to the entire student body, but they had all believed it. Rachel knew her face was turning redder with every passing second. She sank lower and lower in her chair, and hung her head, allowing her curtain of hair to shield her face from the outside world. She could hear whispers and harsh laughs all around her, and could feel the heat of everyone's eyes on her as she sat there, wishing the world could just open up and let her fall away from this situation.

Throughout the next seven minutes of the hell that is homeroom, Rachel endured it all. The mocking looks, the evil snickering, and even a ball of paper that someone threw at the back of her head.

When the bell rang, she dashed out of the room, hoping to escape to the janitor's closet she'd used earlier. She didn't look to see where she was going, however, and she collided with a large form. She staggered backwards from the force of the impact.

Rachel raised her head and her eyes fell on Chad Ruthington. He was huge. The school's star football player, he had limbs that looked like tree trunks, and his large torso was almost bursting out of his t-shirt. "Look where you're going, freak!" he yelled at her.

The next second, she felt something cold hit her face. She watched him walk away, laughing loudly as he threw his now empty slushy cup in the trash. Rachel stood there, feeling the cold drink slide down her body. She forgot all about the janitor's closet. It wouldn't be of much use now, anyway. She took off running towards the school's nearest exit.

She ran out of the doors and into the parking lot, with a mixture of slushy and tears splattering on to the pavement behind her. She didn't know who was watching her, she didn't know what people were saying. All she knew was that she couldn't go back into that building. She couldn't face the vicious students and their cruel actions. Deciding to just go home, Rachel turned onto the main street and began walking.

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Ross had seen everything. All throughout homeroom, he'd been watching Rachel. He'd watched as she sunk lower and lower in her seat. He'd listened as his classmates gossiped about her, none of them bothering to keep their volume down. One asshole had even gone so far as to throw a ball of paper at the back of Rachel's head. As if she didn't feel bad enough already!

When she had hurried out of the room, Ross got up from his own seat to follow her. He didn't plan on talking to her, he just wanted to see if she was relatively ok. He got into the hall just in time to see that jackass Chad Ruthington throw a red slushy in her face. Anger flowed through his body. In that moment, Ross wanted nothing more than to punch that fucktard in the face.

However, when Rachel ran out of the school, Ross's anger was replaced with a strong feeling of helplessness. He had no power here. If he so much as tried to talk to Chad, he would be ruthlessly beaten up by the entire Lincoln High football team, let alone confront him. He also couldn't help Rachel. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't run after her and comfort her. She wouldn't want his help, she would probably just think he was being creepy. Ross did his best to shake off the feelings that were coursing through him, and headed to his next class.

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Ross made it through the first minute and a half of math class before he heard someone talking about Rachel. "Did you see her get pegged with that slushy?"

"Haha! Yeah. I heard she ran away crying."

"I know, right. But she deserved it. Maybe if she wasn't always such a bitch it wouldn't have happened."

Ross turned around in his sear, trying to find the guys who were talking. His eyes landed on Chris Pine and Alex Puller. This information shocked him. Those two guys were total losers, as far as the high school's social hierarchy was concerned. Ross hadn't thought that guys as low as them would be making fun of Rachel. If anything, they should be feeling sympathetic towards her. He knew for a fact that neither of them were slushy virgins.

The two continued to talk about the incident for the remainder of the class. It took all of Ross's self-restraint not to turn around and tell them to shut the hell up and fuck off.

When he got out of math, Alex Puller approached him. Ross was normally pretty friendly with Alex, seeing as they were at the same low social level. However, Ross was still angry about how Alex was treating Rachel. "Hey Ross," Alex said cheerfully.

Ross merely grunted in return.

"So how about that rumor? The one about Rachel Green. It just about made my life. She totally had it coming, don't you think?"

Ross balled his hands into fists. He was very tempted right now to throw Alex against the nearby lockers and beat the living daylight out of him. After a silent struggle between his brain and his fists, he just replied with a curt, "No," and walked away.

Alex stood there with a surprised expression on his face for a moment, before turning around and heading towards his next class.

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Ross was just about ready to snap when lunch came around. His science class had had even more people gossiping about Rachel. He'd had to grip his desk to resist standing up to tell them all to go straight to hell.

He stalked off to the cafeteria. He walked towards his regular table, where Will was waiting for him, gripping his lunch tightly, as if he might explode if he loosened his grip. "I swear," he thought to himself, "if I hear one more thing about Rachel, I'll freaking tear someone's head off!"

Immediately, as if in answer to his thought, he walked past the table of jocks and cheerleaders, which was Rachel's usual table, he heard one male voice rise above the others. "That Rachel girl's always been such a bitch! It's great everyone's turned on her now. Stupid slut!"

Ross didn't let a single thought go through his mind. He just followed his instincts. Before he knew it, his fist had made contact with the jock's head. "What the fuck!" the guy shouted, blood spilling out of his nose.

The jock stood up, glaring at Ross with a bloodthirsty look in his eyes. He raised his fist and swung it at Ross's face, but Ross was much too quick for him. He dodged the punch and kicked the jock in the stomach. The jock doubled over in pain, before running out of the cafeteria.

Ross just stood there, in the middle of the now silent cafeteria. Everyone was staring at him, and he wasn't quite sure what to do next. Out of the corner of his eye he saw someone standing up. He saw that it was Chad, the guy who had drenched Rachel in frozen slushy just hours before. "Look everyone!" he addressed the whole cafeteria. "The nerd struck back! What do you think you're doing, Geller?" he turned to Ross, looking amused at Ross's apparent anger.

The fury that had been present before came flooding back into Ross. Through gritted teeth, he growled at Chad, "Shut up."

"What? I don't get a punch from the oh-so-strong science geek?" Chad continued taunting Ross.

"Shut up," Ross repeated.

"Wow," Chad faced his full audience again, "I guess he's not in the mood to defend anymore! Gonna let the stupid skank hermaphrodite take care of herself, are you?"

"SHUT UP!" Ross screamed at Chad, all of his anger finally coming out. "What the hell is wrong with all of you?" Ross asked the room at large. "A week ago, every person in this room at least respected Rachel. Most of you were her friends. You all looked up to her; copied her outfits, laughed at her jokes. Now what?" Ross was now on a roll, letting out all of his thoughts from the past days. "Some idiot made up a rumor that is so obviously not true, and you were all stupid enough to believe it. Of course Rachel doesn't have a freaking penis! And all of you not only believed it, but you actually turned on her. She really deserves better than that. And you people," Ross turned to face the table of cheerleaders and football players, "who have the audacity to call yourselves her friends, how do you do a thing like this? Why wouldn't you support her and trust her, rather than completely gang up against her? You should be ashamed of yourselves!"

Ross finally stopped speaking. He'd run out of things to say, and was now realizing that he'd just made a huge speech to the entire school. Everyone was gawking up at him, some of them wondering who the hell this random guy was. Ross felt himself start sweating under the unnerving stares everyone was giving him.

"Um," he gulped nervously, trying to find a way to get out of the cafeteria and the situation. No more words came to his mind, so Ross just turned on his heels and walked out the doors, into the adjacent hallway.

He heard the people in the cafeteria behind him start talking once again, as he walked farther down the hall. He hoped that he had gotten through to them. He was pretty sure that he'd seen guilt and understanding pass the faces of some of the cheerleaders. Ross wasn't exactly sure where to go now. Somehow he ended up sitting in one of the senior alcoves, which were supposed to be totally off limits to underclassmen.

For the rest of the day, Ross didn't hear any further mention of the rumor. Apparently, his speech had really sunk in. He went home that day hoping that tomorrow, everything would return to normal.

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Rachel didn't want to go to school the next day. She woke up terrified at the prospect of returning. She spent a good twenty minutes trying to convince her parents that she was sick and it would be irresponsible of them to allow her to go and potentially infect the other students. This plan of action failed miserably, and she found herself walking to the bus stop warily an hour later.

Rachel was waiting for today's torture to begin, but it never did. When people walked up to her that she expected to make some rude comment about her, they instead greeted her kindly and smiled. Everyone was acting as though the previous days hadn't happened, and she was once again the head cheerleader with an incredibly high social status.

She wasn't at ease yet however, she feared that maybe this was all part of another plan to humiliate her. She went to her first class, still waiting nervously for someone to taunt her or perhaps throw another slushy in her face. All of her old friends were talking to her again as if nothing had ever happened. At lunch she ate at her old table, now beginning to let her guard down. By the end of the day, not one bad word had been said to or about her, and she was settling comfortably back into her popularity.

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Two weeks later, Ross walked into homeroom. He saw Rachel and her posse all crowded around her desk. All of them were laughing at whatever Rachel was saying.

It hadn't taken long for the old Rachel to come back after the rumor incident. Well, it wasn't exactly like the old Rachel. She was a lot nicer to the nerds and losers since she now understood their position.

Ross went to the back corner of the room and sat down in his usual seat. Looking back up at Rachel, he smiled slightly.

He'd fixed his mistake, and now Rachel was happy again. No, she hadn't fallen in love with him and no, she probably would never even agree to go out on a date with him, but she was happy. And because he loved her, he was happy as well. He was content to admire her from afar, and hope and dream that one day, she might turn around and realize that he was what she'd been looking for all along.


End file.
